The Historians
A Novel
-
-
4.4 • 10 Ratings
-
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
The Secret History meets The Alice Network in this riveting tale of murder and conspiracy in Sweden during World War II
It is 1943 and Sweden’s neutrality in the war is under pressure. Laura Dahlgren, a bright young historian who is the right hand of the chief negotiator with Germany, is privy to ongoing discussions about the transport of German soldiers to occupied Norway and German access to Swedish iron ore. When Laura finds out that Britta, her former best friend and fellow classmate, has been murdered in cold blood, she is determined to find the killer.
Laura learns that Britta had sent a report on racial profiling in Scandinavia to the secretary of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jens Regnell. Jens, who is in the middle of negotiating a delicate alliance with Hitler and the Nazis, doesn’t understand why he has received the report. When the pursuit of Britta’s murderer leads Laura to his door, the two join forces to discover the truth.
But as Jens and Laura attempt to untangle the mysterious circumstances surrounding Britta’s death, they only become more mired in a web of lies and deceit. This trail eventually leads them to a shocking revelation, a conspiracy that could topple their nation’s identity—a conspiracy some elements in Sweden will try to keep hidden at any cost.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Two Swedish civil servants uncover a Scandinavian WWII conspiracy in this historical epic from Ekb ck (Wolf Winter). While assisting a team overseeing Sweden's trade negotiations with Nazi Germany in 1943, Laura Dahlgren discovers the body of her best friend, Britta Hallberg, near the University of Uppsala, where they had been graduate students five years earlier. In a parallel narrative, Jens Regnell, secretary to the Swedish minister of foreign affairs, works to help ministry archivist Daniel Jonsson fill in missing phone call records between the minister and his Danish counterpart. After Daniel is found dead of suicide, Jens becomes increasingly paranoid and gives greater credence to a thesis manuscript he received from Britta before she was killed, in which she reported on a secret agreement between Sweden, Norway, and Denmark to maintain their neutrality with Nazi Germany. After Laura's apartment is bombed, she and Jens cross paths and discover a clue about a conspiracy that would tie Britta and Daniel's deaths with the mysterious disappearances of Sami people near an iron mine in the far north. As they get closer to the truth, they face increasing danger. Ekb ck sets out multiple red herrings and intricate plotlines, which create tension and lead to a satisfying conclusion. This riveting novel will keep readers turning the pages.
